Broadcast Union News is a clearing center for information of interest to people working in television, film, print/electronic media, and theater. A chance for AEA, AFTRA, IATSE, IBEW, CWA-NABET, DGA, SAG, Newspaper Guild, WGA, and non-represented entertainment industry workers to share information with an eye towards improving wages, benefits, and working conditions for all.

New
York-- El Diario employees, the Newspaper Guild of New York officials and
supporters from the NYC Central Labor Council, Labor Council for Latin American
Advancement, the Newspaper Deliverers Union, the NYS AFL-CIO, the South Bronx
Community Congress and community members gathered today on the steps of City
Hall to demand an end to the illegal firings and threats against
union-represented workers at the media company, and called for the
reinstatement of eight illegally fired workers.

Following
the press conference, the illegally fired employees and their Guild
representatives had several positive and productive meetings with elected
officials who expressed their support and pledged to do more on this issue. The
Guild has scheduled several follow up meetings with local and state elected
officials to discuss the ongoing labor violations at El Diario.

ImpreMedia,
El Diario’s parent company, has pursued a pattern of intimidation and
retaliation against its newsroom staff that threatens to erode the quality of
journalism at the nation’s oldest Spanish language newspaper.

“We
will continue to fight against El Diario’s union-busting moves until these
journalists have been reinstated. The Newspaper Guild is doing everything it
can to save the jobs of its members and support high-quality journalism for a
Spanish-speaking audience,” said Guild President Bill O’Meara.

“ImpreMedia,
as many commentators have noted, appears to have made a business decision to
abandon its longtime core readers in New York. The decision to fire veteran
journalists who covered the courts, the police and the city’s Hispanic
communities is consistent with that business decision. Union employees are
without jobs, the Guild is under attack and readers are getting shortchanged.
This management is shafting everyone,” said Guild Secretary-Treasurer Peter
Szekely.

NY Newspaper Guild Secretary-Treasurer Peter
Szekely

“We
will not sit back and stay quiet while ImpreMedia tries to get rid of the
veteran journalists who know our neighborhoods and the issues facing our
communities,” said Oscar Hernandez, the Guild’s El Diario Unit Chair.
“Spanish-speaking New Yorkers deserve better and that is why we are fighting to
bring back our newsroom colleagues.”

On
June 13, ImpreMedia illegally fired eight El Diario employees, claiming they
were economic layoffs. The firings, which violate the company’s contract with
the Guild, were the latest in a series of anti-union actions by management to
replace the veteran journalists who have long covered the Hispanic communities
of New York. The company has since hired several nonunion employees and
continues to threaten current workers who speak up. The Guild is seeking a court
order to require ImpreMedia to reinstate the eight employees while the dispute
is being litigated.

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The CUNY Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies

Check out the labor classes available at the CUNY Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies. There is a joint CUNY/Cornell Certificate in Employee Labor Relations program, and undergraduate Union Semester program and the MA in Labor Studies program that I finished in June 2011 . See the info at: http://www.workered.org/

The East Coast Council handles production of low-budget feature films, defined as $8 million and below. The Council represents all below-the-line production locals within the IATSE (camera, hair, makeup, props, electricians, etc.) They take a flexible approach to the crewing of productions, by reducing member wages and benefits based on deferment.

For more information about the East Coast Council, contact either of its co-chairmen, Local 600 Eastern Regional Director Chaim Kantor (212-647-7300) or Local 52 President John Ford (212-399-0980).